Welcome to Life as a Woman

I love autumn. It’s my favorite season, but it is also a season of change and growth and challenge for me. It’s a time of year when my anxiety and depression flare, and I feel stressed out for absolutely no good reason. In Colorado, sometimes it feels like we have an extra long summer and then skip right over fall and go straight into winter.

I need my fall, people!

I need the time to transition to the long winter ahead.

I need the time to slow down and reflect and get “me” time.

I need the time to appreciate the beauty of the world around me before it’s too cold to walk outside.

However, this autumn, I feel like I’m moving at breakneck speed, trying to keep up with graduate school, marriage, writing, friends, my new job, and life in general. I started out autumn with the best of intentions. I sat down to write content for my upcoming challenge, and nothing came. Well, snippets came. I have 7 books on my personal reading list and I haven’t started one of them (and 3 of them are due back to the library next week). I planned to have awesome autumn dates with my husband (and since he’s started a new project and I’ve started a new job, we haven’t had as much time for one another).

On Sunday, it all came to head when I broke down during an argument with my husband. I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed and I vented. I felt pathetic and worthless and unloved (all of which is untrue). It was cathartic to get it all out. It was cathartic to tell my husband how I was really feeling and to let the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. I was in line at Safeway that same afternoon and when the checkout lady asked how I was feeling and I responded “tired,” her response was “welcome to life as a woman in America.”

Really?

Is that what it’s come to?

I have to accept that I will be exhausted…

…stretched to the limit…

rushing 16 hours a day…

stressed out and overwhelmed…

… with no end in sight?

I don’t want to be that kind-of woman!

I have to be the ultimate career woman…

…the sexiest wife,

…raise wonderful little ones,

…hang out with friends,

…be cultured and educated and well-traveled,

…make a mean casserole,

…be a super volunteer and serve in church ministry,

…write a fantastic blog,

…and still have time for myself?

There’s no way I can keep up with that! It’s impossible!

I don’t want that kind-of life.

I need my rest. I need my sleep. I need my slower speeds. I need my de-stress techniques. I need my support from my husband and my family and my friends. I need my down-time. I need my relaxation. I need my Sabbath.

Ladies, don’t buy into the myth that you MUST live your life “tired.”

We’re going through a sermon series at church about “messy spirituality.” Two weeks ago, I was incredibly blessed when my pastor spoke about the pendulum between work and rest. This is how God designed life for us.

We live in a world that has been warped and broken by sin. We live in a world that swings between chaos and laziness. This is out of whack. No wonder we’re exhausted. It’s okay to busy. It’s okay to rest. It’s not okay to live at either extreme.

When you live your life in the pendulum between strategic work and rest, your life becomes about worship, not worries or wastefulness.

Ecclesiastes 3 talks about “a time” and “a season” for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 is one of my favorite Bible verses, and I literally have to come back and remind myself of the truth of these words over and over again.

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

When you live in the balance and the rhythm, you can live as a whole woman God created you to be instead of fragmented into the endless to-do-list of your life.

Share with Us: What parts of your life are fragmented right now? What are some of the ways you find a healthy rhythm in your life?

30 Dates in November – This November, join me on my 5th annual 30 Dates in November challenge! This year’s theme is “Strategic Work. Strategic Rest” and our theme passage will be Ecclesiastes 3. We will be focusing on cultivating a heart of gratitude in our marriages and lives and stepping into the rhythms God intends for us as women. Sign-ups begin November 15th.

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2 Comments

Rachel

October 13, 2016 – 3:28 pm

This fall in Colorado is NuTs! It’s cold then it’s HOT – my body is NOT liking this although I love the warmth even though I know I need to dig the snow gear out to see what we need to buy new before the stores don’t have anything left and there is suddenly snow EvErYwHeRe! Enjoy this odd autumn we are having and the snow I know is sure to come oh so soon ;)

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About Me

Welcome to Becoming His Eve. My name is Hannah Williams (a.k.a. Adam's Eve). I am a spunky housewife married to a godly, loving, sexy husband who gives big bear hugs and wonderful words of encouragement. And in case, you're wondering, my husband's name really is Adam. ;o) I am a graduate student and a writer with a passion for learning, helping young women, and transforming marriages. I enjoy reading, creative and nonfiction writing, baking, cooking, hostessing, gaming, and crime shows. I want to use my gifts, talents, and abilities to help transform relationships and communities for the Kingdom of Christ.